The National Police have arrested a woman in her 40s in Tenerife, for allegedly attempting to murder her 7-year-old son. The incident took place in the El Cardonal area of La Laguna last week, but details have just been officially released by the police.
According to witness statements, the woman has an alleged history of mental health problems, and the police report details how her son gave her a severe amount of Anxiolytics, a prescribed anti-anxiety drug, but not being enough to calm her down, she turned on the young boy and tried to suffocate him, although details of how she did this have not been given.
Some of these details have been given by the boy himself, but he was unable to recall everything as he lost consciousness while she was suffocating him.
When the child stopped moving, the mother, who is accused of alleged attempted murder, believed that she had already killed him and stopped suffocating him.
Realising what she’d done, she took more of the Anxiolytics and opened the Butane Gas valves to inhale the hydrocarbon, intending to intensify the deadly effect of both products.
Of course, the boy also inhaled these gases, but in smaller amounts, while he lay unconscious, however, incredibly hours later, the little boy woke up looking for his mother, who was lying on the kitchen floor.
The boy desperately tried to get his mother to react but, unable to do so by his means, he left the apartment and asked neighbours for help. They came to the apartment to try and help, however they declared that the woman "did not respond to stimuli," while others called the emergency services.
Paramedics and the National Police went to the scene of the incident and discovered that the woman still had very faint vital signs so took her straight to hospital where she is still being assisted.
They also confirmed that the boy showed signs of suffocation caused by an adult, whom the agents suspect was his mother. In addition, the police were able to verify that the smell of butane gas could still be smelt inside the house.
Despite the facts, after being assisted by the health personnel, the boy was interviewed by the agents, where he stated: "that he hardly remembered anything about what happened, except that his mother put a cloth over his mouth."
This was something that a paediatrician and a forensic doctor from the Institute of Forensic Medicine were able to agree with, matching the data released in the first instance by the SUC regarding suffocation, which in turn coincides with what little the boy remembered.
The arrest of the woman was carried out by agents of the Judicial Police and the apartment in which the incident occurred was sealed for several days while the Scientific Police carried out a visual inspection and a photographic report.
Pending her recovery, the investigated woman is being guarded by the police at the hospital. The young boy is being looked after by a family member and is being monitored by social services.
